Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 187th episode. Today we’re going to continue our study in Matthew chapter 5. This chapter begins the Sermon on the Mount and in the previous study we covered the Beatitudes. We talked about the different characteristics of a person who is called blessed by God. We discussed how these characteristics are often opposed to what the world would consider blessed. In this episode we’re going to unpack Christ’s instructions to His disciples that they should be salt and light. Salt to preserve what is good and light to guide the world. After that we’ll look at how Jesus ratified the law and how He recommends we follow it as our rule. Let’s begin by reading verses 13-16:
Mat 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
Mat 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
Mat 5:15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Mat 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
When Jesus first called His disciples He told them He was going to make them fishers of men. Andrew, Peter, James, and John were fishermen and Jesus used this illustration to describe how He would train them to draw people in to the gospel. Here He tells them they are designed to be the salt of the earth and the lights of the world. Calling the disciples the salt of the earth was a form of encouragement because Jesus knew they were going to be treated with contempt. He’s telling them that despite their persecution, they themselves will be blessings to the world. In fact their suffering would only increase the positive impact they had on humanity. The prophets had this effect as well but the difference between the prophets and the apostles was that the apostles were commanded to go into all the world and preach the gospel. The prophets made a positive impact locally, but the apostles of Christ would go on to make a positive impact globally.
Here we gain some insight as to why Christ used salt to illustrate what the gospel would accomplish. Jesus’s disciples were few in number and relatively weak when stacked against their task of ministering to the entire world. If they were to try spreading the gospel by force of arms they would have little if any impact. But Jesus is telling them to work like salt, which diffuses its flavor far and wide while remaining meek and stable. There’s nothing bombastic or obvious about the way salt works in preservation. You just throw a handful on and it diffuses in a way that’s irresistible. In Matthew 13 Jesus tells them the kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until all of it was leavened. Much like salt, the gospel is penetrating, quick, and powerful.
Jesus is encouraging His disciples to trust in the word of God rather than in the strength of their own efforts. Their own faithfulness need merely extend to the ministry of the word. All they have to do is preach the gospel and stick to the word of God even if their impact seems doubtful. Hebrews 4 says the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. Scripture pierces as far as the division between soul and spirit, between joints and marrow, and it’s able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. The word of God is cleansing, it renews your mind, and it guards you against corruption. When you allow scripture to penetrate your being you take on the mind of Christ. With the mind of Christ you manifest the knowledge of Christ everywhere you go and scripture says this knowledge is a sweet aroma. Having the mind of Christ is so critical that without it all other learning simply expedites your descent into madness.
In Numbers 18 we read that an everlasting covenant is a covenant of salt and the gospel is an everlasting gospel. Every one of the sacrifices performed by the Levitical priests required salt as part of the ordinance. Salt preserves that which is good, and followers of Jesus who commit to learning the gospel and teaching it to others become the salt of the earth. Salt is not very intimidating – it’s small, grainy, and is normally considered a rather humble ingredient. But it’s extremely powerful. Salt is extraordinarily effective at what it does and it’s absolutely necessary for the sustainment of human life. Colossians 4 commands that our speech should always be with grace as though seasoned with salt, so that we will know how to respond to each person. Followers of Jesus who are seasoned with the gospel are people whose thoughts, affections, words, and actions are all seasoned with grace.
This is a critically important point. Mark 9 says that we are to have salt in ourselves and be at peace with one another. Your impact is going to be limited to the quality of who you are as a person. I’m not saying any of us can be perfect – far from it. I’m simply saying this idea of salt preserving what is good has to be something which works through who you are as a follower of Christ. You won’t have much impact if all you do is say the right things while having no conviction yourself. You have to allow the word of God to transform you before you can have any hope of transforming others. One of the greatest testimonies to the power of the gospel is a person who is transformed from the image of wickedness into the likeness of Christ.
What Jesus did 2,000 years ago has shaped nearly every element of our experience today. His life and actions while on earth were so penetrating that many of us take it for granted and we just assume humanity is naturally good. But the truth is we would all be living in a perverse hellscape of nihilistic immorality had the life of Christ never happened and the gospel never been preached. Humanity was festering in ignorance and wickedness when Christ sent forth His disciples. Through their lives and their faithfulness to the word of God they introduced a form of knowledge and grace which has been spreading and resonating ever since. The transformational power of the gospel is such that it takes human beings with all their flaws, sins, and shortcomings and makes them entirely acceptable to a perfect and holy God.
Part of being the salt of the earth means being dispersed throughout the world. I’m sure it would have been more comfortable for the disciples to stick together and stay home – but that was not their commission. In much the same way, followers of Jesus need to be ready to go wherever the Great Commission takes them. Wherever they need to go to preach the gospel and make disciples – this is where they should go. Salt is not effective if it’s confined to one small area – it needs to be spread out. This was true of the Levites when they were dispersed in Israel and it was true of the apostles as they went out into the world. One faithful, godly preacher can change an entire community.
None of this is to say that you should give up the possibility of making an impact if you are stuck in your homeland. You should be studying, living, and sharing the word of God wherever you are. You might be the one element of goodness in a person’s life who is completely in the dark without you. Such a commission is a major responsibility but you are indwelled by the Spirit of God who gives you the strength and power necessary to meet the moment. Jesus knew the weight of the responsibility which is why He told His disciples to wait until the Spirit of God came upon them.
Couched in His declaration that we are the salt of the earth Jesus also places a warning. His warning is against those who should be salt but have lost their flavor. These are the kinds of people who call themselves Christians but who are themselves unsavory, void of spiritual life, beacons of hopelessness, resentful, or full of animosity toward others. Good salt can be used to preserve perishables against corruption, but there is no preservative which can fix the salt itself if the salt has gone bad. There’s a common warning among pastors against the danger of doing ministry by your own power. The idea here is that some pastors are so good at ministry they can be completely unhealthy and yet deceive themselves and others into believing they’re fine by virtue of their shallow ministerial success. A pastor (or any Christian) who does this is in danger of becoming salt which has lost its flavor. You might know these people as being overly cynical.
As you become increasingly cynical or resentful you’ll begin to lose contact with grace in your own disposition. You’ll be quick to condemn, quick to announce doom, and weak in your resilience to adversity. To practice ministry without grace is to stand in defiance of the will of God. Matthew Henry suggests a hierarchy of wickedness when it comes to salt that has lost its flavor. He says, “As a man without reason, so is a Christian without grace. A wicked man is the worst of creatures; a wicked Christian is the worst of men; and a wicked minister is the worst of Christians.” Jesus said this type of person would be cast out and trodden underfoot.
Rejecting grace is one of the fastest tracks to being rejected by your church. No one wants to have a relationship with a graceless person because a graceless person is entirely unpleasant to be around. The Pharisees spurned grace and Jesus sharply condemned them for this reason. If, as a Christian, you reject the ways of Christ to exert your own pathological will on others, God will cast you out from the communion of the faithful and your shame and rejection will bring glory to Him. The injunction to be the salt of the earth is a serious one, and it begins with monitoring your own spiritual well-being to ensure you truly are a Christlike presence everywhere you go.
Next Jesus said that we are the light of the world. This description is meant to work in tandem with salt. Light makes salt work better because light exposes corruption and light also serves as a guide. Ephesians 5 says that we are light in the Lord and we should walk as children of light. Philippians 2 says that Christians will appear as lights in the world among a crooked generation. Jesus called Himself the Light of the world and He said that all who follow Him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
In the ancient days it was a lot harder to light up a darkened world. When the sun went down you had to work more to produce enough light to see. The rising of the sun in the morning was always a welcome reprieve. The gospel functions in the same way – it is a welcome reprieve for those who are lost in darkness. The presence of a Christian is also like this – it brings warmth and joy to those who can’t find any light in their own circumstances. Just like His disciples, God has raised us up to shine light into a dark world and we can do this confidently because our light comes from Jesus.
Part of being light in the world means that you are going to have many eyes on you. People will look to you for guidance and a city that is set upon a hill cannot be hidden. When you begin to live out your Christian faith with zeal and conviction, the people around you are going to take notice. You might get some insults and people might challenge you. But I always tell Christians not to take these jabs as necessarily meaning the other person doesn’t respect you. A person’s worldview is a very deeply rooted element of their identity and so generally speaking it’s terrifying to entertain changing it. Those who watch you become a Christian and live out your faith will poke and prod at you to see if you actually believe what you say you believe. It’s not that they hate you, it’s that they’re scared of going out as far on the limb as you are and they want to test you to make sure it’s safe to follow you.
With that said, there will certainly be observers who really do hate you. The reason they hate you is because they hate Jesus. They hate the truth because the truth exposes their lies. They hate the light because the light exposes the sins they commit in the dark. These kinds of people will seek to censor you and they will try to assassinate your character. It’s an unfortunate reality that immature believers as well as those who are outside of the faith will look to you as a surrogate for Christ. I resist this misunderstanding every chance I get and I try to remind others that all people have fallen short of the glory of God. But this has been a problem since the beginning of the Church so it’s unlikely to go away.
There are two things you can do to mitigate the damage of others looking at you as if you perfectly represent Jesus. First is remind them that you, despite being a Christian or a pastor, are very much broken like they are. You want to make sure they’re not too disappointed when you fall – which you inevitably will. Second is that you can do your best to accurately imitate Jesus insofar as your presence will lead the lost to the One who can truly save. Rather than being a replacement for Jesus in the lives of others, you want to be their guide who shows them the path to the real Jesus.
The disciples whom Jesus called were unknown men prior to His calling them. After He taught them, equipped them, and sent them off to preach the gospel they began to receive respect from some and persecution from others. But most importantly God honored them by advancing them to thrones in the kingdom of heaven and permitting them to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. So any time you receive praise or persecution from human beings, always keep it in perspective and seek first the kingdom of God. More than you desire human praise and more than you fear human persecution, you should desire for God to honor you because we know that Jesus will honor those who honor Him.
Part of your role as being light to the world is Jesus lifting you up so that you can guide others. He didn’t limit the work of His disciples to the lost sheep of Israel. He sent them out into all the world. In the same way you shouldn’t be surprised if God gives you a platform from which to share His word. I’m not saying every Christian is called to be the next megachurch pastor, but I am saying if you are faithful then God is going to ordain situations where obedience means being bold enough to share the gospel. This might mean reaching out to the person who no one else talks to and befriending them. It might mean publicly standing on principle when selling out would bring you much more worldly gain. If you allow the Spirit of God to spark a guiding light in you by way of understanding scripture, then you should expect Him to want to use this light by showing it to others.
You can imagine the churches like candlesticks upon which God places light so that all the world may see it. The gospel is like a city on a hill so full of light that the only way to miss it is to shut your eyes in willful blindness against it. The word of God has such power that it’s impossible not to recognize its value unless your attention is focused somewhere else. The gospel causes such dramatic change in the heart of a person that individuals who have been saved and are being sanctified become walking testaments of light whose very presence brings honor to God. The gospel illuminates the life of all who draw near to it.
Sometimes pastors and other Christian leaders stay away from the stage because they feel like humility requires that they don’t seek an audience. I myself have been guilty of this. But the mandate from God is that if you have been gifted with biblical knowledge then you better stand up and share it. The disciples of Christ were commissioned to shine as lights by their good preaching. True knowledge of God which is hidden from others is not a good thing and is not helpful for the kingdom of God. If you’ve been gifted with godly wisdom or the ability to preach the truths of scripture then you need to prioritize seeking an audience. And you shouldn’t be seeking one just to glorify yourself, you should have an earnest desire to communicate the word of God for the benefit of other people. If you know your Bible and you’re confident in your ability to communicate it, it’s never a good idea to remain in obscurity under pretense of contemplation, modesty, or self-preservation.
A good Christian serves as a conduit for instruction, direction, encouragement, and comfort. I say conduit because all of these things should be sourced in the scripture and spoken by the Christian. A Christian needs to demonstrate his or her allegiance to truth in their entire conversation and in the way they walk through life. James 5 encourages those who are wise to demonstrate the gentleness of wisdom through their good behavior and their good deeds.
You can accomplish great things for the kingdom of God simply by loving others well. You don’t need to be a theologian to love others well. Simple acts of kindness and benevolence reflect well on the Church and they bring glory to God. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” As a Christian it’s important that you display good works in addition to your good words. This doesn’t mean you need to allow the perception and bad assumptions of other people govern your decision-making, it just means you should do what you can to love others, show respect, and be humble in all things.
When you endeavor to be salt and light in the world it’s also important to maintain the proper motives of the heart. The Pharisees made a show out of doing good works because they wanted to bring glory to themselves. The Christian must remain so quiet in his or her good works that others may never notice you did them – and if they do notice then all glory to God. A good question you should ask yourself at every turn of your faith journey is, “Are my thoughts, words, and actions bringing glory to God?” Honoring God and glorifying Him should be integral to the reason you do anything in life. It is both your highest purpose and your most important aim.
As a human being you are designed to honor God and bring Him glory. Part of your commission as a Christian is to do what you can to foster this purpose in others as well. When you do good things it allows those around you to see the power of God’s grace working in you. This is especially true of people who start out doing wicked things, are saved and sanctified in Christ, and go on to do good things. Only God has the power to work such transformation in a person’s heart – and bystanders know this. We want others to imitate us as we imitate Christ because we believe Jesus is the truth and His ways are excellent. We don’t want these people to imitate us forever, we simply want this imitation to function as an on-ramp for relationship with Jesus wherein they may imitate Him.
And you shouldn’t overthink this either. When I say good works it’s not like you need to go out and build a cathedral. You can make a huge impact merely by the way you carry a conversation. Words are far more powerful than is belied by their ease of usage. Try to remember Jesus the next time you have a conversation and see what you can do to live up to His holy example. At the end of it, even if you have a bad day and you show off the wrong example, just remember that God’s grace is sufficient for you. Never give up – you never know whose life is forever changed because of how you chose to live. Let’s read verses 17-20:
Mat 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
Mat 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Mat 5:19 “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
For those who looked to the Old Testament as their rule, Jesus here reminded them they were right to do so. The words of Christ and the rule He came to establish is in exact accordance with the law and the prophets. He condemned the scribes and Pharisees not because they observed Old Testament law, but because they twisted it for self-serving ends. The incarnation of Christ on earth was such a momentous occurrence that Jewish scholars may have been concerned He would diminish the law. Basically the faithful people who lived at the time of Jesus believed their scripture came from God and so they held it in the highest regard. Jesus assuages their fears that His ministry may have any contradiction or conflict with it. There may have also been people who lived licentious lives and were hoping Jesus came to abolish the law so they could be free to do whatever they wanted. Jesus made clear that He did not come to secure divine promises for those who despised the scriptures.
The commands of Christ did not forbid anything the law and the prophets encouraged, nor did they permit anything the law and the prophets forbade. Jesus is the Savior of souls and He doesn’t destroy anything apart from the works of Satan. In this passage Christ makes clear that not only did He not come to destroy the divine dictates, but He actually came to fulfill them. Galatians says Jesus was born of a woman and born under the law. He is the first one and the only one to ever demonstrate flawless obedience to this law. Among many other things Jesus honored His parents, sanctified the sabbath, prayed, gave to the poor, and He never sinned. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law because He never broke the law in any way.
In addition to His perfect obedience, Jesus also makes good the promises of the law and the predictions of the prophets. These were the holy scriptures which bore witness to Him. That’s why when He judged the Pharisees He told them they search the scriptures looking for life when the scriptures are actually pointing to Him. Christ is the Mediator of the covenant of grace, which means only in Jesus are we set free to live without being crushed by the guilt of our own sins or forced to retreat by the fear of making mistakes. Sometimes people talk about the Old Testament sacrificial system as if the coming of Christ nullified it or removed it. But in truth the coming of Christ completed it. All of the sacrificial ordinance instructed to the Levitical priesthood was merely a foreshadowing of the perfect sacrifice which was to come. It trained the Jewish people to be able to see and understand the saving work of Jesus.
You can think of the law in the Old Testament as a glass half full of water. Jesus didn’t come to dump out the glass, rather He came to fill it up the rest of the way. Even today there is so much congruence between Christianity and Judaism in terms of moral precept that when discussing it we often just hyphenate it as Judeo-Christian. The gospel changed the essence of Judaism without repealing any of it. Our world is essentially different because of Christ and His gospel – so much so that without it we are lost – but this gospel replaced Judaism without refuting it. That’s because the gospel is the culmination and final establishment of Judaism. The law and the prophets upon which Judaism is based point to Jesus Christ.
This passage also shows the permanence and unchanging nature of scripture. Jesus said until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke will pass away from the Bible. In all of God’s operations of providence and grace He is fulfilling the scripture. All of civilization could collapse and God would still preserve His word. And it’s not just the major doctrines He’s talking about here, it’s every jot and tittle which means even the smallest strokes of ink. Scripture is different from human law insofar as human law needs to be amended and updated to account for our own ignorance and corruption. Some human laws are considered extreme and not really enforced. But every line, every word, every mark of God’s law is eternal and shall not be abridged or amended.
After telling His disciples that the word of God will last forever, Jesus admonished them to carefully observe it and to understand the danger of neglecting it. If you disregard even the smallest parts of scripture, and teach others to do so, you will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven. The Pharisees, by contrast, had contempt for the most important parts of the law and that’s why Jesus said they won’t even enter the kingdom of Heaven. To teach and observe the full counsel of God is the pattern Jesus prescribed. Living like this and teaching like this might cause you to be hated and persecuted by people in this world, but it will also result in you being called great in the kingdom of Heaven.
When Jesus talks about the least important parts of scripture He’s not saying those parts aren’t important. They are only considered small by comparison to more significant parts of the law. Even the least important passages in scripture are imbued with intention that is very great and considerable. Every line of the Bible is the product of omniscience and so the entire thing should be handled with the utmost respect. The Bible is a hyperlinked text, so you can’t add or subtract anything without setting off a chaotic chain-reaction which is dangerously destructive to your faith and perception.
Throughout Church history there have always been those who sought to change and shape the scripture for self-serving ends. This is incredibly dangerous even when the distortions only concern seemingly minor passages. It’s dangerous because to even embark on such a quest means you’ve abandoned your belief in the sufficiency of scripture. The Bible has no heavenly authority if you have the authority to change it. So once you give up on the infallibility of some of it you tend to give up on the infallibility of all of it. You’re too wicked to be drawn to God without submission to His word. If you don’t accept the ultimate authority of scripture then the sin inside of you will corrupt you into the kind of person who rejects the entire canon.
In terms of His providential preservation of the Bible, God will not allow any of His commandments to be vacated because to do so would make void the law. It’s not good to sin by breaking God’s commandments, but it’s even worse to teach others to do so. Part of being successful as a Christian and a pastor is making the decision to teach the full counsel of God truthfully even when you know you aren’t obeying it. This is not hypocrisy, this is grace at work in a fallen world. To teach the scriptures accurately means to teach the character of Jesus Christ – and there exists no human teacher who can do so without being exposed as a hypocrite. Fear of the accusation of hypocrisy is one of the primary motivators for heresy. This spirit of fear is not from God, it’s from Satan the accuser himself.
Heretics are among the worst of humanity in the sight of God because they lead other people astray. Heresy is like a reversal force upon the gospel. It is the opposite of the Great Commission. It is the direct defiance of the Lord Jesus Himself. Such false teachers will not only be rejected as teachers in the kingdom of Heaven – but they will not even be permitted entry to the kingdom at all. Such false teachers are standing on borrowed time, because one day the truth is going to re-assert itself and it will appear by its own evidence – at which point the depth of their deceptions will be exposed as when sunlight illuminates a darkened place. Malachi calls it an abomination to profane the sanctuary of God. It is treacherous to encroach on the sacred scriptures with your own ill-fated designs.
In contradistinction we should aspire to both practice and preach the truth faithfully. Living such a life brings honor to God and the scripture says God honors those who honor Him. The ideal is always to support what you teach with your own character as evidence of its fruit – but this can be really hard to do in a mortal frame. Understanding your own limitations and being committed to an accurate depiction of Christ through scripture despite your own limitations is sometimes the best you can do. It’s far better than changing and shaping doctrine to accommodate your own infirmities just so you look like a saint.
The next thing Jesus said probably took quite a few people by surprise. He said the righteousness which is the product of observing His commandments must exceed that of the Pharisees or else you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven. This would have been a crushing statement to any who perceived the Pharisees as having reached the pinnacle of devout Judaism. The scribes were fantastic teachers of the law and the Pharisees were the best professors of it. They also occupied the seat of Moses which meant they held all of the most powerful offices of the clergy. The average person looked at these religious elite and figured he’d never be as righteous as them. So it was probably quite a shock to hear Jesus say this.
But His message becomes crystal clear when we see His purpose wasn’t to draw attention to the strictness of the law, but rather to expose the Pharisees while illuminating the people’s need for a Savior. The religious elite of Christ’s day were great oppressors. It’s true they did well in observing the various ceremonial appointments of the Mosaic law. They were always seen fasting, praying, and teaching. But the extent of their faith was ritualistic and self-serving. They loved religion because of the power religion brought for them. They were so caught up in playing judge over the people that they missed the real Judge when He was standing right in front of them.
The scribes and Pharisees laid heavy burdens upon the people to obey the commandments under totalitarian rule devoid of grace. They emphasized giving the priest his tithe, while Jesus came and told the people to give God their hearts. The Pharisees sought the applause of men, but Christians must seek acceptance with God. The Pharisees trusted in their own righteousness as sufficient for heaven. Jesus, by pointing out the most outwardly righteous people in the land and then telling His disciples even these have no chance of entering the kingdom of Heaven, made everyone realize that entry to heaven was never about our own righteousness. We have no hope of standing before God unless we can put on the righteousness of Christ. That is our impossible dilemma.
To love God means to keep His commandments. The purpose of your life is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength – and to love your neighbor as yourself. And after you’ve done all of this, to trust not in your own righteousness – but deny yourself and put on the righteousness of Christ. Jesus is the King. Jesus is the Judge. But Jesus is also the Savior. This is the beauty and this is the essence of the gospel. This is why the gospel has been unchanged and preached for thousands of years. This is why the gospel is the greatest news humanity has ever known. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
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